Centrifugal hydroextractor



.July 15,1941.

CEN'IRIFUGAL HYDROEXTRACTOR Filed Jan. 10. 1938 'A. IBAILLY 2,249,306

Patented July 15, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT orrlcsfl Application January10, 1938, Serial No. 184,304 r In Belgium February 4, 1937 r 2 Claims.(Cl. 210-69) invention relates to a hydro-extractor comprisingsubstantially a basket of widening out shape associated with a filteringor pervious wall and mounted upon a rotatable shaft, and a rotary drumconstituted by a mesh-like carcass and mounted on a separate shaftcoaxially with the said basket and within the letter, said drum beingprovided externally with projections extending up to a point adjacent tothe filtering wall upon which the material to be squeezed is caused totravel under the effect of the centrifugal force, which projectionsoppose the displacement of the material so as to retain the latterin-the hydro-extractor as long as may be desired. Accordingto theinvention, use is made preferably of annular projections of reducedthickness, disposed at intervals upon the outer surface of the drum,said projections being provided with gaps arranged in angularly shiftedrelationship to one another, so that the material to be squeezed, whichis charged into the hydro-extractor at the narrowest end of the basket,should be able to pass beyond the various projections in successionwhile travelling along the inner face of the filtering wall under theeffect of the centrifugal force. According further to the invention, theouter edges of all the annular projections lie upon circumferences whichare parallel to each other, so that the said projections, whenrevolving, sweep away over constant annular zones of the filtering wall,and therefore, the said zones may be replaced by impervious or fullstrips.

When the shafts of the basket and of the drum are driven in the samedirection but at different speeds, continued working of thehydro-extractor will be obtained, the material to be treated beingadmitted in an uninterrupted manner to the .narrowest .end of thebasket, and the squeezed material being discharged in a continued mannerat, the other end of the apparatus. To enable the hydro-extractor towork in a non-continued way, all that .need be done is alternately todrive the basket and the drum at the same speed and at'different speeds.

Simply, by way of example, certain embodiments' of the hydro-extractoraccording to the invention will'be hereinafter described with referenceto the accompanying drawing in which- Fig. 1 is a view, .partly inlongitudinalsection, of a hydro-extractor including a frusto conicalbasket and drum, and

Fig. 2 is a plan View, .partly in section, of the said hydro-extractor.

In1the housing I of the hydro-extractor there is arranged alba'sketzassoci'ated with -a=filtering or pervious wall '3 and mounted upon ashaft '4 by means of a flange 5. "On a hollow shaft '6 surrounding theshaft 4 there is mounted a mesh-like drum 1 the outer surface of whichcarriesparallel annular or ring members '8, 9, H1 having each formedtherein one'o'r moregaps or notches H, l2, I3. An annular apron memberI4 -is projecting from the "inner face of the drum 1 in alignment withthe ring :member 8.

"Themateria'l to be squeezed is supplied through the tube l5 discharginginto the space limited by the apron member IA. The material passesthroughthe holes in drum 1 into the portion of smallest diameter of thebasket '2. Under the effect of the centrifugal force, part of the liquidsqueezed out of the material passes through the Wall 3, while theremainder of material and contained liquid tends to travel along theinclined wall 3,"but is arrested in its travel by the ring member '8,except at the point where the gap H is provided. basket 2- are "rotatedin the same direction but at different speeds, the gap II will appear insuccession in all of the points of the annular zone of the basket facingthe ring member 8, so that the material to be squeezed is allowed topass through said gap -in a continuous manner. The material will pass inthe same manner successively through the" gaps l2 and I3. until finallydischarged through the conduct l6, while the liquid is collected"through :the conduct l I.

In order that the material may be retained the required time in thechambers limited by the ring memberst, 9, I0,the gaps ll, 12, I3 areangularly staggered with respect to each other. A plurality of such gapsmay be provided in each ring member. The basket 2 may have any wideningout shape' It may be formed of a single conic frustum having a straightgeneratrix, as in the example. illustrated, or it may consist of aplurality'of conic frustrums assembled end to end and having differentlyinclined generatrices, the reason for such arrangement residing in the'Variationof the physical condition of the material treated, which isvery moist when entering the basket and becomes more and more dry inproportion as it travels towards the discharge end. As a substitute forthe'plurality of conic frustrums,.a surface of revolution generated by acnrvedigeneratrix may be used.

The design of the drum may comprise various embodiments similar to thosedisclosed with referenceto the basket.

I The ring'amembers 8, 9, l ll may be made in Inasmuch as the drum 1 andthe be subjectedto squeezing for any desired lapse of time, theadmission of the material into the basket through the tube l being outoff for the same period.

When the said period of time is over, the toothed wheel driving the drumis again thrown in, and the drum again takes up its relative movementwith respect to the basket and enables the material treated to traveltowards the discharge end of the hydro-extractor, while material tobetreated is charged afresh through the tube l5.

made in helical form with a small pitch angle," 7 so that the saidprojections C19 1I 1( )t pu.Sh;th-

material but experience a push from thematerial which tends to travelalong the filtering wall.

The inclination of the the number of ring members, as well as the speedof rotation of the basket and of the drum maybe varied in accordancewith the type, of material to be treated.

The clearance between the-outer-edge of the rings and the inner surfaceof the basket maybe adjusted, as mainly for the purpose of taking up thewear upon the said edge, by varying the relative position of the drumand the. basket in the axial direction, such as. by means of anyconvenient adjustable thrust arrangement, whereby the relative positionof the shafts 4 and 6 may be predetermined. f

The aforesaidshafts may be driven at different speeds by any convenientmeans, such as gear wheels l8, IQand pinions 20, 2f, the gear wheel I8being keyed onto shaft 6, and gear wheel I9, onto shaft 4. The gearwheels l8 and I9 have slightly different tooth numbers. These gearwheels are interconnected through pinions and 2| rigidly mounted onshaft 22 which is driven, for instance, from an electric motor (notshown) adapted to operate the hydro-extractor. Alternately the shafts 4,6 may be driven by'other gearing, or by belts or chains.

In treating certain particular types of material it may be desirable toapply a non-continued squeezing action. To this effect all that need bedone is to provide means whereby the relative rotary motion between thebasket and the drum, it is to say between the shafts 4 and 6, may beshut out, and for this it is only necessary to release one of thoseparts, for instance the shaft 6, from its driving means.

Thus, in the embodiment exemplifiedin the drawing it is onlynecessary-instead of rigidly securing the toothed wheel 3 and the pinion20 onto their respective shafts 6, 22to connect either the toothed wheel18 or the pinion 20 to the corresponding shaft, through the medium of aclutch 26. Owing to the provision of the clutch, the drum may bereleased from its drive mechanism when in full operation. After theclutch is thrown out the drum will be driven forth'(by reason of thefact that the material to be squeezed contacts the basket 2, 3, the drum1 and the annular projections 8, 9, H] of the .latter) together with thebasket and at the same speed as the said basket. I

If desired, a speed gear shift mechanism may be provided wherebyavelocity different from or equal to that of the basket maybe impartedto thedrum. 1 Due to the relative movement; betwee'n the drum and thebasket being shutout, the material. ceases its travel inside the basketand may thus members on the drumQthe Y number and dimensions of the gapsin the ringgeneratrix of the a basket 1 with respect to the axis ofrotation of the latter,

actuation of the accomplished under the control of a conveniently Theclutch operating means may be so arranged asgto effect the opening andthe closure of the tube [5 simultaneously with the corresponding clutch.The operation may be adjusted automatically acting electrical devicewhich may comprise, for instance, a clockwork adapted to periodicallyinduce the said functions.

In the case that particles of the material treated stick now and thenmomentarily to the pervious wall of the basket, which may be effec-.tive in inducing unbalance and vibration, it is onlynecessary to havethose particles detached, to thus enable them to continue their travelalong the said pervious wall under the action of the centrifugal force.To this end it is simply necessary,to provide auxiliary vanes 23, 24,25' extending between every two adjacent annular projections in adirection which is, for instance, substantially at right angles to thelatter, the said vanes being preferably arranged inialignment with thetrailing edges of the gaps, II, I2, l3 i. e. those edges which pass inthe secondplace opposite a given point of the basket on account of therelative-movement of the drum andthe basket.

As shown in the drawing, annular impervious zones, 21, 28, and 29 areprovided in the pervious wall facing the outer edges of'the annularprojections 8, 9, and I0. Those impervious zones or full stripsreinforce the basket and stop the liquid which would have a tendency toescape along the filtering wall and to mix with the dried product.

What I claim is:

l. A hydro-extractor including a revolving basket supporting a perviouswall of widening out shape, a rotary drum positioned within the basket,coaxially arranged drive shafts for the basket and for the drum, meansfor admitting the material to be squeezed into the portion of smallestdiameter of the basket, means for operating said shafts, annularprojections arranged in spaced relation upon the outer surface of thedrum for opposing the travel of material along the pervious wall underthe action of centrifugal force, said projections having their outeredges extending to the neighborhood of the pervious wall and describingparallel circumferences during the rotation of the projections,angularly staggered gaps in said projections, and annular imperviouszones in the pervious wall facing'the outer edges of the annularprojections.

2. A hydro-extractor including a revolving basket supporting a perviouswall of widening out shape, a rotary drum positioned within the basket,coaxially arranged drive shafts. for the basket and for the. drum,meansfor admitting the material to be squeezed into the portion ofsmallest diameter of the basket,.means for operating said shafts,annular projections arranged in spacedrelation upon the outer'surface'ofthe drumiforgopposing the travel of material along.

the pervious wall under the action of centrifugal force, saidprojections having their outer edges extending to the neighborhood ofthe pervious wall and describing parallel circumferences during therotation of the projections, angularly staggered gaps in saidprojections, transverse vanes uniting every twoadjacent projections andplaced adjacent that one edge of the gaps which last passes a definitepoint in the pervious wall consequent on the different velocities ofrevolution of the basket and the drum, and annular impervious zones inthe pervious wall facing the outer edges of the annular projections.

ARMAND BAILLY.

